Armed bandits put race on hold

Japanese driver Hishiro Masuoka steers his Mitsubishi during the 9th stage of the 26th Dakar rally, between Tidjika and Nema. Photo: AFP

The Dakar rally took an unscheduled break on Saturday, steering clear of armed bandits in Mali and allowing a depleted field time to recover.

Just 144 vehicles made it to Friday night's bivouac, fewer than half the number of entrants who set out on January 1, with others still stuck on the ninth stage from Tidjikja in Mauritania to Nema. Organisers called off the weekend stages in Mali after reports of armed bandits lying in wait across the border.

Instead, the caravan headed to the Malian capital Bamako before competitive stages resume after a scheduled rest day on Monday. France's Stephane Peterhansel leads the overall cars' standings with an advantage of more than an hour over Mitsubishi teammate Hiroshi Masuoka, the Japanese chasing his third successive win.

Friday's leg was the longest competitive stage of the event and many crews have spent days and nights without sleep in the desert, driving and working on their vehicles.

"This, combined with information received by both the French and Mali authorities about potential bandit activity, left the organisers with no alternative but to annul the legs to ensure the safety of all personnel," a Mitsubishi team statement said.

In the motorbikes, Spain's Nani Roma has a three-minute lead over France's Richard Sainct, who feared the cancellation of stages would hit his hopes hard.

"This is a bad decision for me," Sainct said. "I cannot make up time during these two days."